14:15 25Sep2004 DJN-DJ Hurricane Jeanne Gathers Strength, Bears Down On
Bahamas

FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP)--Hurricane Jeanne gathered strength Saturday as
it bore down on the Bahamas, where hundreds of people took refuge in schools
and churches ahead of an expected direct hit.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of 5-10 inches of rain,
huge waves and a storm surge four to eight feet above normal tide on the
north side of Grand Bahama Island when the storm hits later in the day.
Winds were 105 mph, up slightly from Friday.
"The wind is howling," said Richard Fawkes, a 52-year-old Bahamian
taking refuge at the Abaco island shelter. "It's really coming with
intensity now."
He said the metal shutters on the windows were rattling in the fierce
gusts, and water was seeping inside.
About 700 evacuees crowded into a school in the town of Marsh Harbor as
Jeanne's outer winds and heavy rains lashed Abaco island Saturday. The storm
is then expected to continue up to Florida.
The scene was all too familiar for islands still recovering from
Hurricane Frances. People waited in long lines at gas stations; crowded into
stores to stock up on food, water and batteries; and rushed to nail plywood
over their windows.
"We expect two of our islands to get hit hard -Abaco and Grand Bahama,"
said Jeffrey Simmons, a meteorologist at the Bahamas weather service. The
capital of Nassau was projected to be brushed with winds of up to 73 mph, he
said.
Officials urged people to evacuate low-lying homes, and shelters opened
on the islands of Abaco, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama.
"We fear that it's going to bring more water damage," said Richard
Fawkes, a 52-year-old Bahamian reached by phone at the Abaco island shelter.
He said he boarded up his beachfront home and was laying out a quilt to
sleep atop several desks. "I think people have a lot of battle fatigue from
(Hurricane) Frances."
Flooding from Jeanne has already killed more than 1,100 people in Haiti
last weekend and left more than 1,250 others missing.
The circuitous storm had threatened the Bahamas last week as well,
after it battered Haiti and the Dominican Republic a first time. It instead
turned east, heading out into the Atlantic Ocean, raising hopes it would
spare the Bahamas and Florida.
But the storm then turned a loop and headed back west toward the
Bahamas. At 8 a.m. EDT, Jeanne's center was very near Marsh Harbor on Abaco
island in the northwestern Bahamas. It was 190 miles east of Florida's
southeast coast, moving west near 14 mph.
About 750,000 Florida residents were urged to evacuate and several
cruise ships were diverted. Grand Bahama's airport was closed Friday night.
"We're shutting down everything," said Christina Williams, an employee
at the Great Abaco Beach Hotel. "All the guests left yesterday."
She said the only remaining guests were insurance adjusters who planned
to ride out the storm.
The repeated hurricanes are disrupting tourism, which the government
says accounts for more than half the jobs in this country of 300,000 people.
Some hotels damaged by Frances remain closed.
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Jeanne
was likely to strengthen to a major hurricane later Saturday The storm was
forecast to stir up dangerous surf and rip currents, and dump up to 10
inches of rain.
At least 16 shelters were opening in the Bahamas, said Greenslade, who
used a tractor to rescue flood victims stranded by Frances three weeks ago.
That storm killed two people and damaged thousands of homes when it
tore through the low-lying Bahamas. It toppled rows of power lines,
flattened homes and uprooted trees during a prolonged two-day lashing of
Grand Bahama Island.
Many homes still have roofs patched up with plastic sheeting.
Electricity has been restored to half the homes on the island of more
than 70,000 people, and officials declared the drinking water supply safe
only a week ago, said Harold Williams, a Freeport city council member.
On Great Abaco island, residents secured their boats in port as
officials urged those in flood-prone areas to evacuate to shelters. The
hurricane was expected to bring tidal surges capable of causing severe
flooding.
On the Net:
National Hurricane Center, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
Weather Underground storm site, http://www.wunderground.com/tropical

(END) Dow Jones Newswires